\u201cWeed the People,\u201d a documentary from director Abby Epstein and executive producer Ricki Lake, is all about the tension between the medical cannabis industry and the existing federal legislation that prohibits the full exploration of the plant\u2019s efficacy. Although 33 states, four U.S. territories and the District of Columbia have passed laws that allow qualified patients to use marijuana to treat various conditions, there are still lots of states where people don\u2019t have any legal access to a treatment that could save their lives. <\/p>\n
The passion project, which was six years in the making, seeks to answer a central question that many people in the medical cannabis industry wonder: \u00a0If weed is truly saving lives, why doesn\u2019t the government want people to access it? It\u2019s a tug-of-war between life and death, highlighting those suffering from conditions that require treatment and living under a government that won\u2019t acknowledge cannabis\u2019s healing power enough to remove it from being considered a Schedule I<\/a> substance along with acid, heroin, ecstasy and bath salts.<\/p>\n Epstein and Lake utilize the intimate stories of families For example, there\u2019s Mara Gordon, who began treating herself with cannabis-infused edibles after she experienced debilitating spinal pain \u2014 and later went on to start a cannabis oil company, Aunt Zelda\u2019s<\/a>, to help other patients, like Tracy and Josh Ryan daughter\u2019s Sophie, who was only 9 months old when she was diagnosed with an optic pathway glioma brain tumor.<\/p>\n There are also a host of cannabis experts who offer insight, historical information and in-depth data about cannabis in the film. The experts include Dr. Raphael Mechoulam<\/a>, the Israeli organic chemist and professor who is credited with discovering THC; Dr. Bonni Goldstein<\/a>, the pediatric ER doctor who founded Canna-Centers<\/a> in Los Angeles; Ethan Nadelmann, the founder of New York City-based Drug Policy Alliance<\/a>; and Dr. David (Dedi) Meiri<\/a>, who heads Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Cannabinoid Research, where they are currently investigating the therapeutic potential of phytocannabinoids<\/a>.<\/p>\n This documentary can serve two very different but important Many people have had their own small successes with \u201cJust as parents deserve to choose how they bring their For people interested in checking out the documentary, it can be watched online on various streaming platforms, including iTunes, YouTube, GooglePlay and elsewhere. It is also available for purchase and had a 420 Netflix release.<\/p>\n TELL US<\/strong>, have you Originally published in Issue 36 of Cannabis Now. LEARN MORE<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The post \u2018Weed the People:\u2019 Marijuana for Those Who Need It Most<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\u201cWeed the People,\u201d a documentary from director Abby Epstein and executive producer Ricki Lake, is all about the tension between the medical cannabis industry and the existing federal legislation that prohibits the full exploration of the plant\u2019s efficacy. Although 33 states, four U.S. territories and the District of Columbia haveContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,1589,9834,4349,592,125,85,9548,415,9771,9973,978,9974],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35319"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35319"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35320,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35319\/revisions\/35320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nwho bravely share their struggles and triumphs to challenge the notion of what
\nmakes something medicine versus what makes it a drug. At about 90 minutes
\nrunning time, \u201cWeed the People\u201d is moving and appropriately dramatic, without
\nexaggerating the gravity of each tragic and heart-wrenching situation. <\/p>\n
\npurposes. For people who are already aware and convinced of cannabis\u2019 power to
\nheal, this film will bolster your confidence in what you may al- ready know and
\nbelieve. For others who have yet to be convinced of how weed can help improve
\nthe lives of patients, this will be an informative and eye-opening look at not
\nonly how there\u2019s more to marijuana than getting high, but also how the
\ngovernment has meticulously kept cannabis away from those who need it most.<\/p>\n
\ncannabis, perhaps using it to help reduce pain or combat insomnia, but this
\ndocumentary brings out the big guns with conditions that the conventional
\nmedical industry has struggled to remedy. For example, it spends a good amount
\nof time discussing the anecdotal evidence that cannabis can assist in complete
\nand total remission from stage 4 bone cancer and disappearing metastatic
\ngrowths. This documentary is really a compilation of miracles that each patient
\nhad to fight for the right to have.<\/p>\n
\nchildren into the world, we all have the right to access natural medicines that
\nare potentially life-saving,\u201d director Epstein said in a press release in
\nreference to her previous film, \u201cThe Business of Being Born.\u201d \u201cThese are basic
\nhuman rights that institutions should not have the power to take away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nseen \u201cWeed the People\u201d yet?<\/p>\n
\n
\nRead More: \u2018Weed the People:\u2019 Marijuana for Those Who Need It Most<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"